INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Photographer positions are at a 29% growth rate, which is much faster than average. With that said, there are currently 63,300 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 18,300 to 81,600 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Photographer jobs was $61,900 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $34,870, and the highest 10% more than $152,720.
Our conclusion? The Photographer job market is wide open for candidates.
Top photographer sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write the perfect photographer resume experience section
Photographer Experience Section: Checklist
- List your positions in chronological or reverse-chronological order;
- Go for 4-6 bullet points;
- Add only relevant work experience;
- Include information about the challenges you’ve faced, the actions you’ve taken, and the results you’ve achieved;
- Use action verbs instead of filler words.
We’ve selected some of the top Photographer resumes made using the Enhancv platform to illustrate what a great experience section looks like. Use them as inspiration when building your own resume:
- Written more than 15 articles on investigative, athletic, cultural and academic topics of student interest (http://aubgdaily.com/author/georgi-dobrev/)
- Succeeded in winning the "Social Owl" award a number of times awarded for the most read article for the month
- Edit fellow writers' articles on a daily basis for two years
- Promoted sport through publishing of the creation of a sports column and the publication of sport articles
- Managing and editing photos for 600+ vehicles
- Inventory stock and requisition to new stock on lot
- Quality control to ensure customer satisfaction
- Design and print buyers guides and equipment lists
- Photographing cars and managing vehicle inventory
- Maintaining all buyers guides and equipment list for each vehicle
- Placing all inventory online
- Participator in the foundation of the association
- Being a passionate photgrapher I made most of the photoes at the events
- Organized some of the lessons and teached at lots of them
- Managed social media accounts and accumulated a following of 15,000 within a year through strategic marketing
- Provided brands with native product-based advertising and exceeded their expected traffic ratio per post
- Generated revenue by providing independents with basic photography services, such as LinkedIn headshots
- Collaborated with various brands including LG Canada to advertise their product and providing quality images
- Processed photos with use of Adobe Creative products; ensured clients were always satisfied with final images
- Interest in marketing and proactivity: shown by running a private photography studio for 1 year and continually booking photo-shoots due to active use of a range of social media platforms and other marketing strategies.
- Problem solving: proven to be able to handle the pressure of everything going wrong on a photo-shoot, without transferring that onto the client, and still being able to deliver a high quality end product.
- Attention to detail: demonstrated by having a strong sense for customer satisfaction with the final product and its value to the client in mind.
- Communication skills: developed through constant coaching of my client to produce the best image possible for them.
- Provide photography services to clients
- Edit and manipulate photos for clients’ desired end product
- Close it down due to lack of team and pricing competition
- Building social media presence on Facebook and Instagram
- Implementing social media strategies
- Increasing fan base in social media
- Executing more than 30 portrait and over 20 event photo sessions
- Performing studio photoshoots, wedding, portrait and food photography
- Published in Condé Nast Traveler and Siem Reap Airways
- Permanent collections: Galerie Bergstub’l, Berlin, Germany and the Newark Public Library, Special Collections Division
- Product, wedding, portraiture, and travel
- Specializing in Portrait and Event Photography
- Working with a team of professionals and creating advertisements – print and video productions
- Slightly experienced in video shooting, postproduction and copywriting
- Photograph and edit lifestyle images for advertising campaigns.
- Shoot, light and edit over 30 videos and manage them for Youtube.
- Utilize IBM WebSphere CMS to upload content from vendor catalogs.
- Propose equipment budget and video ideas to supervisors.
- Photographed and prepared photos for print and online publication.
- Managed photo editor’s responsibilities during the editor’s vacation periods.
- Researched and presented news stories to the editorial staff.
- Photographed major student events as well as graduations.
- Designed the layout for two 150-page yearbook editions.
- Created original cover art for three individual editions.
PRO TIP
In writing your Photographer resume, you will no doubt want to list your previous duties - as you should. But steer clear of just listing your duties, instead of your achievements. Make your resume stand out by communicating what you have done, and not merely what the job needed you to do.
Action verbs for your photographer resume
Recommended reads:
Photographer resume: How to write a strong skills section
The ultimate photographer skills section checklist:
- Balance between all kinds of hard skills – technical, analytical, etc.
- When it comes to technical skills, match them to the job description;
- Add keywords present in the job advert to pass ATS;
- Don’t forget to list transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, work ethic, and presentation skills.
Top skills for your photographer resume
Photoshop
Indesign
Illustrator
Lightroom
Canva
Self confidence
Creativity
Humor
Innovation
Storytelling
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
Recommended Reads:
Photographer resume header: Tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your photographer resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads.":
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your Photographer resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
Photographer resume summary: things to include and things to avoid
Job-winning Photographer resume summary checklist:
- Mention your total years of experience in the field;
- Highlight one or two of your top achievements;
- Avoid getting into too much detail – you’ll do that in the experience section;
- Focus on short sentences that are easy to read and add value to your application.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Highlight specific past projects that you’re most proud of in your summary. It sets an excellent tone for the rest of your resume. You can talk about all of your former jobs in your work experience section later on.
Recommended reads:
Highlighting education, courses, and certifications in your photographer resume
Education section checklist:
- What? Where? What’s the result? Answer these questions when mentioning education and courses on your resume;
- Give preference to courses and degrees that are relevant to the job position;
- Be honest! Some recruiters love checking with colleges and universities to see if you’ve really been enrolled in them;
- Share more about certifications that have helped you turn into a professional, and mention the bodies that have issued them.
Top Certifications for Your Photographer Resume
Photography Masterclass: A Complete Guide to Photography
The Best Online Professional Photography Class: How to Take Amazing Photos for Beginners & Advanced Photographers
A Masterclass in Photography - Be A Confident Photographer
Photography course: Manual, auto modes, depth of field, lenses, using light, composition & creative use of your camera
iPhone Photography | Take Professional Photos On Your iPhone
Your Online Guide to Taking Stunning iPhone Photography Like a Professional Digital Photographer
Photography - Become a Better Photographer - Part I
See results today! 50 photography tips for taking amazing photos with your DSLR, Mirrorless or compact camera.
How to Be a Commercial Photographer
Learn how I thrived for 35+ years photography people, products, and places for Fortune 500 companies and top maazines
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Photographer. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Photographer resume format 101
If a couple of years ago Photographer resumes could be text files with no graphic elements, today’s recruiters need a bit more to remember you.
And yet, you can still choose between three basic resume formats:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
But when it comes to choosing the right format for your Photographer resume, there are two factors to keep in mind: your experience and whether you’re looking for an industry change.
The reverse-chronological format is the most common one. That being said, it gives recruiters exactly what they’re used to in terms of order and information. However, it’s not suitable for applicants with employment gaps or not enough experience.
We at Enhancv suggest the functional skills-based resume format for people with limited work experience who find reverse-chronological resumes irrelevant. This format showcases the applicant’s most significant accomplishments, skills, and strengths.
Don’t miss our resume format checklist:
- Go for a traditional easy-to-read resume font sized 10-12p;
- Don’t risk it: choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Make sure your Photographer resume fits in one to two pages;
- Save your resume in PDF to avoid having it edited by someone else.
Looking for more tips? Check out our job-winning guide for crafting a resume that gets you remembered!
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Other sections for your photographer resume
If the position you’re applying for allows for that, you can include some non-traditional sections in your resume. This will add a bit more depth to your application and will also give the hiring manager a better idea of who you are as a person.
Some ideas include:
A photographer resume recruiters would love
You’ve drafted an amazing Photographer resume, but are still not sure whether it will make a strong first impression? After all, recruiters go over tens of resumes each day, right?
Right! And the recipe for getting their attention includes a dash of creativity.
What’s more, a creative resume is perfect for adding your personality to the mix. For example, you could mention your favorite books, quotes, movies, or even what your day usually looks like.
Regardless of what you choose, make sure your levels of creativity match the industry, the company, and the position. Otherwise, your resume might look silly and inapt.
What makes a great photographer resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
